Baroque Art Overview

Baroque Art

• Baroque art emerged as a reaction to the Mannerist style and the Protestant Reformation.
• The term "Baroque" comes from the Portuguese word "barocco," meaning irregular or rough.
• Baroque art is a significant era in art history, showcasing some of the world's greatest artists.

Characteristics of Baroque Art

• Baroque art originated in Rome and emphasized emotion and drama.
• Large-scale public art, such as murals and frescoes in churches and palaces, aimed to illustrate Catholic dogma and doctrines.
• Catholic Baroque art often featured church decorations, while Protestant churches were typically simpler.
• Baroque art from Catholic countries frequently displayed a theatrical and melodramatic style, commissioned by the Catholic Counter-Reformation.
• Protestant works often contained more realistic or everyday scenes.

General Characteristics of Baroque Art

• Baroque art drew inspiration from the High Renaissance incorporating intense emotion and movement from Mannerism.
• Baroque compositions were asymmetrical, contrasting with the symmetrical, triangle-based compositions of the Renaissance.
• Baroque art featured fluid, less defined shapes, creating dynamism, unlike the clearly defined shapes of the Renaissance.
• In Baroque art, foreground and background merged to create a compelling image, unlike the Renaissance's clear separation.
• Baroque paintings used "chiaroscuro," the interplay of light and shadow, creating dramatic effects with marked contrast between light and dark areas. Paintings were often predominantly dark, with light highlighting specific figures or objects.

Baroque Art and Architecture

• Baroque art aimed to create a spectacle and an illusion.

Painterly Style

• Movement of figures (like Rubens) or light (like Velazquez) was crucial. Baroque artists demanded high technical skill in depicting movement.
• Baroque art used glowing, rich colors, contrasting with the balanced use of color in the Renaissance.
• Figures often displayed distortions and contortions.
• Baroque art is subjective, reflecting the artist's emotions and opinions.
• Deep spaces are common in Baroque artwork.
• Themes are often dramatic, theatrical, and full of movement. Subjects often include fleeting moments, and while still naturalistic, could be religious or increasingly secular (like portraits).

Baroque Architecture

• Straight lines of Renaissance architecture were replaced with flowing curves and enlarged domes and roofs.
• Baroque architecture was designed to create spectacular effects such as ringing and curving the structure, creating an impression of being embraced by larger forms.
• St. Peter's Square in Rome, designed by Bernini, is an example of a Baroque architectural style.

Baroque in Italy

• The transition from Late Mannerism to Baroque occurred in Rome towards the end of the 16th century.
• Caravaggio's paintings were influential in shaping the Baroque style of painting.

Caravaggio

• Caravaggio (1571 - 1610) was an Italian artist known for his fiery personality.
• He was frequently in trouble with the law, being imprisoned multiple times.
• In 1606, he was involved in a fight resulting in a death warrant from the Pope.
• He fled Rome and had further conflicts, including a fight in Malta in 1608 and another in Naples in 1609.
• His career was short-lived, and he died shortly after, around 1610.
• Caravaggio's importance to Western art was not recognized until the 20th century.

Mannerism

• Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the High Renaissance.
• It was stylish and bordering on exaggerated.

"Still-Life with a Difference"

• Artist: Audrey Flack
• Medium: Oil pastel or chalk pastel
• The Catholic Church's influence on art after the Counter-Reformation is evident in the work of Baroque painters, particularly Caravaggio.
• Caravaggio's style, known for its emotional content and truthfulness, emphasizes full reality of human existence, using light and shadow (chiaroscuro) effectively.
• "The Supper at Emmaus" exemplifies this technique. The painting shows Jesus revealing himself to his disciples after the resurrection. Jesus is serene and remote, while the disciples react with astonishment.

Chiaroscuro

• Chiaroscuro is the balance of light and dark in a picture, painting, or drawing.
• The skillful management of shadows is crucial, contrasting strongly with the light areas.
• As demonstrated in Caravaggio's work, where light illuminates key figures.

Symbolism in Fruit

• The basket of fruit on the table likely employs autumnal fruit, which possibly holds symbolic meaning.
• Light spreads outwards in the paintings, creating a new emphasis on natural drama and the fluctuations of light.

Characteristics of the Rococo Style

Subject Matter

• Rococo was an art form not for the general public, but for the frivolous aristocracy.
• The everyday life of the aristocracy was portrayed, including romance, mythology, fantasy, and preferred themes over historical or religious subjects.
• The aristocracy was shown at play—enjoying chamber music, dancing, seduction, and affected poses.
• Rococo is considered frivolous (light-hearted and not serious), sensual, without any weighty subject matter.

Composition

• Spiral-like and asymmetrical compositions.
• Figures and background form a unified whole.

Shapes

• Open and decorative, filled with curls.

Colour

• Gentle, pastel colors, not bright.

Application of Paint

• Rococo art uses a style of clear brushstrokes.

Overall Impression

• Rococo art is frivolous, light-hearted, sensual, and avoids heavy or disturbing subjects.
• It has an "airy-fairy" appearance, being playful, superficial, and decorative.

Fragonard

• Fragonard was a French painter of the Rococo period.
• He produced over 550 paintings (excluding drawings & prints), only 5 signed.
• "The Swing" depicts a playful scene with a young man and woman on a swing. The woman swings high and the young man, on the ground below, gazes up her skirt. She kicks off her shoe at a Cupid statue. Two more Cupids are in the background. The scene takes place in a lush, overgrown garden. The painting is characterized by loose brushstrokes and pastel colours (pale pinks and greens), creating a light mood and a sense of frivolity. The work seeks out pleasure.